“Hector Browne, he works for Blighton’s Holdings. He wants me to become something like a lady, but it is going to be hard to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.”
“Sweetie, he does not work for Blighton’s Holdings, he’s a partner. So you are seriously going up in the world. Now that Miss Blighton is the countess of Kittleton, Mr Browne is likely to be moving in more prestigious circles. Handsome devil, her husband the earl.”
“You’ve met Lord Falconer? Aye, he is handsome,” Sally said blushing to the roots of her red hair.
“Know him don’t you?” Blanche paused and looked closely at Sally’s blushing face. “He always liked the redheads. Seems devoted to his countess though, nice to see him finally happy. He deserves some good luck. An old friend is me lord.”
“I wish him well too. He never did anyone I know any harm. Now his debts are paid, things should go well for him.”
“I wish that could be guaranteed, someone tried to kill his wife last week. He has asked me to try and find out who is backing Higgins & Morpeth, because his thugs tried to kill Gregory Wellmouth as well. His lordship is furious, killing mad.”
They talked on together, but eventually Sally realised how much time had passed. She needed to dash home so the innkeeper summoned a cab for her, personally handing her into it. Sally left but not before promising to meet up with Blanche a few days later. She had heard a bit more about the plots against the Wellmouth Chandleries and was horrified to hear of people acting with such malice that they would try to kill the Countess. So when Sally went out over the next few days, she listened to the conversations of those around her. She listened for specific words, Wellmore, chandlery, Kittleton, countess, and Blighton. She overheard a lot of things which did not interest her, but might be worth something to interested parties, concerning the furtive actions and less savoury habits of Londoners and visitors to the city.
Sally learnt a great deal about their businesses, their wives and families, the women they had been with and their ambitions, but not one of those words came up in any of their conversations. Sally heard whispered intrigue about various dishonest and reprehensible felonies, both while being planned or having been undertaken, yet none of them related directly to Xavier or Celestina Falconer. She had to conclude Blanche in her chosen profession as a fence of small stolen articles, was far more likely to discover the name of the fiend who had tried to have the countess killed.
The lessons with her voice coach helped reduce her country burr and all her listening to those around her had allowed her to imitate the cockney accent with its mangled vowels and missing consonants. She found it easier to pronounce than the more correct speech of Hector and Xavier, but for a few minutes at a time she could sound like a lady if she wanted to. But with a little dirt on her face and her shabbiest clothes, she could easily pass as a local serving girl. In drab clothing she set out on the afternoon of Lady Charlotte’s ball intending to visit Blanche. She stopped to remove a small stone which had worked its way into her shoe in a respectable street in town; then she turned to the side street which offered a short cut in the direction she was going.
A man was leaving the servants’ entrance although he wasn’t dressed as a servant. In fact his raiment was very expensive although Sally thought his colour choices of blue unmentionables with a Lincoln green coat clashed offensively. Especially with the brightly embroidered clocks on his stockings and his shoes with ornately decorated golden buckles. The peacocks beautifully displayed on his waistcoat combined with the number of fobs suspended from his watch chain, just looked overdone. A man in plain dark clothes stood by waiting as the man kissed a dishevelled blonde in a revealing peignoir goodbye.
“I’ll be here at eight o’clock to escort you to Lady Charlotte’s ball tonight,” the gentleman murmured to the blonde while chewing on an ear lobe.
“And nothing will go wrong? A covered carriage will be there with help to carry the freckled frump off?”
“Everything is organised, very soon the so-called Countess of Kittleton will not be able to hold her head up in society. I promise you will not have to suffer another ton event with her presence. I don’t think Falconer will be so protective of soiled goods either. She’ll be well used by the time she is rescued, if she ever is. I know a northern madam who would take her, no questions asked. You’d like the coast clear so you could have the earl back yourself?” He twisted her chin upwards towards him, so he could look in her eyes. From the gasp she uttered he was clearly hurting her.
“Of course not Arthur, the earl is old news, you can do to him whatever you wish …”
“I will think on it, it is a pity we can’t get at their money as well as destroy her reputation, but I think it will all go to some mealy mouthed cousin of Falconer’s. ‘Till tonight Selena,” he buzzed a perfunctory kiss on her lips and turned to go. The blonde hurried inside rubbing her chin. The gentleman walked down the side street, followed silently by the man in black. Sally waited and followed at a distance, trying not to be observed by the men. They walked on down the lane, where a dark carriage was waiting. The gentleman climbed in and the man in black closed the door for him. The gentleman leaned out of the carriage and Sally made it look like she was going to enter one of the houses’ servants’ entrances, so her interest in the men was not too obvious.
“Ferris, you know what is needed for tonight, have you found a house?”
“Yes sir, I am just going to meet the men, to ensure they do not become fainthearted before the event. Even the hard London lads need a bit of prodding when it comes to dealing with a lady. But I promise this lot will do as they are bid, there will be no opportunity for them to renege or get the wrong girl.”
“See that you do Mordecai, and afterwards you know what is needed? The other pair bolted after the shooting fiasco and it took me a while to see them silenced.”
“I am terribly sorry, they insisted they were dead shots, but this time I will not fail you sir.”
“See that it is so, unless you which to join them floating down the river?”
He said the last remark with a nasty smile on his face, then banged the roof of the carriage and it moved off down the road. The carriage had no coat of arms so was not distinctive. Sally hurried to the end of the street to see which direction it had gone, asking herself what she had really learned.
The gentleman was called Arthur and his servant only addressed him as sir, not as my lord. He had a blonde mistress who was known to Xavier called Selena. She knew where the mistress lived, that might be useful. His henchman was one Mordecai Ferris, but he was so undistinguished it would be hard to identify him in a crowd. They planned to carry off Xavier’s countess later that evening from Lady Charlotte’s Ball.
When Sally reached the end of the street, the carriage was already out of sight but she could see the black coat of the servant strolling on further down the road. Sally walked fast in the same direction, she wanted to see where he would go, before she got a message to Blanche about what she had seen and heard. Sarah feared risking so important a message with an unknown messenger. She wondered whether Blanche could write or read. Sally had never seen her doing so. It had not seemed polite to ask.
Ferris did not seem to be in a particular hurry so she had no great difficulty following him at sufficient distance not to be noticed, but the area of London he was heading to, was one of the worst she had visited in the city. The streets were muddy and littered with debris. She saw the long tail of a large brown rodent skitter into a pile of refuse. Then turn to peek out and arrogantly watch her as she walked around the rubbish.
There were a few ragged children around, but Sally shivered seeing the likes of some of the men who loitered around together. She normally felt she could bluff out any kind of situation, yet despite wearing her shabbiest clothes she felt threatened by the mean narrow streets and the intimidating men lurking around each corner. She was not sure whether to pretend nonchalance and smile as if she was perfectly confident, or to keep
an eye on the men and prepare to make a run for it. She reassured herself that they were not teasing her and had ignored Ferris as he passed down the road.
Then Ferris turned into a slightly wider street with room for two carriages to pass. It was still obviously a poor area, but the houses on either side of the road looked like their occupants had made an effort to keep them clean and their children playing under foot, were bare-foot, but their clothes were clean and their hair had been combed. Sally felt less threatened as Ferris stopped half way down the street and unlocked the door to one of the houses. The downstairs’ rooms had heavy dark red curtains pulled closed. The other houses in the road had open curtains. She counted the houses from both ends of the street and did her best to remember everything about how it looked. Ferris disappeared into the house and Sally walked past trying to see what the road name was, she did not want to draw attention to herself and ask any of the people around.
At the end of the road, it joined a larger thoroughfare which was labelled Northeston Road, which would lead her back into slightly nicer areas of London. She watched the door Ferris had entered for a few minutes from the end of the street. Two large burly men who had the look of dock workers, together with an unsmiling fairly large woman knocked on the door. The woman was dressed in a grubby dark pink frock which revealed an ample bosom and Sally immediately stigmatised her as a low class brothel keeper, because she was too ugly to make a good living as a whore. Ferris let them in and closed the door behind them.
After about five minutes Ferris came out with the two men and began to walk to the end of the street where Sally was waiting. She slid around the corner and walked off back towards town, not looking back. She went a hundred yards before sliding into a shop entrance and turning round to see if they were coming in her direction. But the men were no longer in sight and Sally assumed they had gone in the other direction or had taken a cab or carriage. Sally almost ran back into town to find Blanche and tell her what she had learned.
Chapter Twenty-four – Sally seeks Help
It took some time for Sally to reach the Inn where she had met Blanche, because Sally had not yet learned all the shortcuts around London. It was quite late in the afternoon when she found the right hostelry and relieved Sally entered, only to find that Blanche was not present. She asked the landlord whether Miss Blanche was expected.
“No sorry Miss, she’s gone for the day.”
“Is there any way I can get a message to her? I didn’t ask if she could read or not.”
“Miss Blanche reads all right, but she is very private about where she lives. She sometimes visits the Red Boar in the evening, but not always. I can get a message taken there if you want to write one miss?”
Sally agreed to write a message and the landlord found pen, paper and ink. Salt was not sure what to write.
Dear Blanche
The man you are seeking is called Arthur and has a servant called Mordecai Ferris. They plan to kidnap her ladyship tonight and might be taking her to the fourteenth house on the left of a side street heading south from Northeston Road. I passed the Black Lion on the way back to town which might help identify the road.
Your friend
Sally Preston
Sally was not sure whether her note would reach Blanche and the earl in time to prevent the abduction, so she got a cab straight home, determined to tell everything to Hector in the hopes he could make sure the Falconers were warned about this gentleman Arthur’s nefarious plans. She reached home in time to change into something prettier before taking dinner with Hector. Her maid put her hair into a pretty style and she descended the stairs to wait for Hector’s arrival home. Usually Hector was very punctual and would arrive home in a cab from the same company who would drive him to and from work every day. But when the clock chimed seven o’clock Hector had not yet appeared. Sally asked for dinner to be held back a little, but no sooner had she done so than there was a knock on the door.
As Hector had a key, Sally wondered who was calling at this time. But her footman who answered the door did not usher anyone in to see her he merely brought a letter on a silver salver to her. Sally thanked him and slit open the letter.
Dear Sally
There is an emergency in Portsmouth that I have to deal with. I am taking the Mail coach up tonight and should be back with luck tomorrow night. Sorry to miss dinner with you but I promise I will make up for my absence when I get back to London, by taking a couple of days off so we can go and see the sights together.
Your devoted lover
Hector Browne
Sally did not know what to do, she did not really want to go to Kittleton House herself and even if she went now, they would have probably already set off for the ball before she got there. The man named Arthur had mentioned picking up the blonde at eight and that was not very long off. Sally cancelled supper for herself but ordered the gig readied and called her maid to help her change her dress. While waiting she scribbled off a note to the earl. Ten minutes later in a warm cloak and more comfortable dress, she set off for Kittleton House. Although it was already evening, the streets were busy and it was not long before eight o’clock when she arrived at the door. Leaving her man of all work to keep the horse quiet, she knocked on the door and asked for the earl.
“I am sorry Miss, but the earl and his countess have gone out for the evening,” Sally felt that the butler was just being a little pompous in his tone towards her. She considered asking the butler to have her note taken to the earl at Countess Charlotte’s wherever that was, but was not sure that he would not just discard her note, as she did not sound like a lady.
“That is a shame,” Sally said in the longest drawled vowels she had every attempted. “I hoped to catch them before they went to Lady Charlotte’s ball as my driver is new to London and does not know the way, could you please direct him on the quickest route there?” She flickered her eyes at the older man and in his desire to please the younger woman he forgot his class prejudices.
“The dowager marchioness of Stangate, my lord’s great-aunt, lives in her son, the Marquis’ town house which is of course in Grosvenor Square. It should be obvious from the queue of carriages which house, everyone who is anyone will be going,” he unbent enough to inform them. Many much finer carriages were going in the same direction and the traffic was slow. On reaching Grosvenor Square, Sally did not want to have her gig stuck in the queue of carriages waiting for entry so she directed her driver to wait in North Audley Street while she headed in alone. She hoped that perhaps the earl’s carriage was caught up in the queue and so she looked at each carriage as she walked past. A number of haughty faces looked back or through her as if she was beneath their notice.
She reached the steps to the main door and walked up to where the marchioness’ servants were welcoming her guests and taking their cloaks and hats. Sally waited until the servant with the most ornate livery was free and asked him whether he could get a note to the earl of Kittleton.
“The earl and his wife are in the receiving line with her ladyship. It is more than my job is worth, to interrupt them, Miss. You can’t stay here, you are clearly not invited. Now please leave before I have you removed.”
“The message is urgent, the earl needs this information.”
“I doubt that very much, young lady. Now go or I will have you put out.”
Sally retreated abashed, knowing there was no point arguing with the butler. She made her way back to the gig feeling very concerned that the countess would be at great risk from the dreadful “Arthur” and his cronies. She got back in the gig and wondered what to do next. It was possible her man of all work would be treated better than she had been herself. He was dressed in plain livery and looked like a servant. Servants were expected to deliver messages to society members even at balls. Sally knew how to control a gig, although Hector did not like the idea of her driving it herself through the busy streets of London. Sally thought he was over protective, because the horse was a sluggard and she beli
eved if Satan himself opened hell in front of the horse, it would just stare bucolically. She felt the horse was too stupid and lazy to run away with her.
She explained to her driver and took the reins while he went to attempt to get the message through to the earl. She sat there quietly, hoping that they would be able to warn him before it was too late.
Chapter Twenty-five – Lady Charlotte’s Ball
Celestina descended the stairs to the entrance hall of Kittleton House, Xavier standing waiting at the bottom, gasped as if his breath had been stolen away. It was the first time he had truly seen her in fashionable evening dress and Amy had worked her magic with her vivid curls. She looked so exquisite in an over-gown of gold net trimmed with golden ribbons, which reached around mid-thigh over a gown of pale green trimmed with slightly darker ribbons with a small train. Xavier examined the details of his wife’s costume with awe - the sleeves were long but revealed her very white shoulders, around her neck she wore only a simple gold chain with a plain cross as pendant. Her hair was arranged around and through more gold and green ribbons in knots like flowers and displayed in an artful abundance of curls.
On her feet were golden satin slippers and around her shoulders she carried a shawl made from a similar net lace to her over-gown. He could not fault her appearance; she had not flaunted her wealth, nor worn something too modest, ornate, or too fast. He was amazed at how perfectly her instincts had judged how to dress, but also how stunning she was dressed for a society event. Xavier proudly handed her into their carriage and they departed to be early for the ball as Lady Charlotte had asked them to stand in the receiving line to welcome her guests.
Xavier thought back to the naiad in the woods so many years before and was convinced she had grown even more beautiful than she had been at sixteen. Dressed in green and gold she seemed to glow from within and he doubted there would be a more beautiful woman at the ball. He smiled to her as he gloried in how lucky he had been to meet Celestina that night. His mouth had turned up in mirth when Lady Charlotte insisted Celestina and himself to join the receiving line, which was why they had to leave so early. The gesture would be very much to Celestina’s benefit. She would be introduced to all the guests, who would realise she was fully supported by Lady Charlotte. It would double or treble their invitations and they would not be able to decline all of them.
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